New Faculty Position in Spatial Analysis (9/6/07)

The Department has been approved for a new Assistant Professor position in Spatial Analysis, with an emphasis on urban issues. See the job ad HERE.

Proposal for a New Ph.D. Program in Urban Studies (9/6/07)

The Department is developing a proposal to establish a doctoral program in Urban Studies with an emphasis on geographic approaches to the study of urban conditions and dynamics, and the challenges and opportunities that face cities and metropolitan regions in US and international settings. The program will focus on the themes of globalization, sustainability, and social justice, three areas that increasingly are central to understanding such challenges and opportunities. The curriculum will emphasize a range of spatial analytical methods including quantitative (emphasizing Geographic Information Science or GIS) and qualitative skills.

GUS Colloqium Series for Fall 2007 (9/6/07)

Wednesday, October 17
Geoff DeVerteuil, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Southampton, UK
Clean and Sober Places? Therapeutic Landscapes and Substance Abuse Treatment

Wednesday, November 14
Robert Mason, Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University
Re-placing American Land-Use Regulation: The Quieter Revolution in Place-Making

All Colloquia held in 310 Gladfelter Hall.

GUS Undergraduate Students Receive Awards (9/6/07)

Geography & Urban Studies recognizes outstanding undergraduate students for the 2006-7 academic year. Awardees include:

The Adams Prize: Justin Collins
The Geography and Urban Studies Department Award: Kenny Steif
The Henry Michael Prize in Geography and Urban Studies: Douglas Aaron Boice
The Delaware Valley Geographical Association Prize: Sara Duling
The Patrick Stocking Memorial Prize for Cartography: Megan Witwer

Temple University: Diversity and Community Partnerships (9/6/07)

Temple's student diversity ranks way ahead of other universities. The 2008 edition of the Princeton Review ranks Temple's student body the most diverse in the nation. For more information go HERE.

Temple University partners with the City of Philadelphia. In partnership with the city government of Philadelphia, Temple University has just established a program that provides financial support for staff and faculty who purchase homes in the communities surrounding its urban campus. See more about this recent initiative HERE.

Associate Professor Ben Kohl Publishes Book (9/6/07)

Associate Professor Ben Kohl authored a new book, Impasse in Bolivia: Neoliberal Hegemony and Popular Resistance, with Linda Farthing. The book was published by Zed Press (London, 2006).

Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project Receives Renewed Funding (9/6/07)

The Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project (MPIP) received another two years of funding support from the William Penn Foundation.

Associate Professor Jeremy Mennis Receives Grant from NIH (9/6/07)

Associate Professor Jeremy Mennis serves as co-P.I. on a recently granted two-year, ~$400,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) titled "Social Ecology of Urban Adolescent Substance Abuse: A Multiple Domain Approach." The project, led by Villanova University's Michael Mason (P.I.) and in partnership with researchers from Pennsylavnia State University, investigates how neighborhood characteristics and social networks combine to affect adolescent substance abuse.

GUS Student Wins Temple University Diamond Scholarship (9/6/07)

GUS undergraduate student Greg Wetmore was awarded a scholarship throught the Diamond Research Scholars Program for his research proposal on modeling commuting behavior in Philadelphia. The award includes tuition waiver and a stipend. For information on the Diamond Scholars program go HERE.

Rob Mason Has Book Published (9/6/07)

	Associate Professor Rob Mason recently had a book published titled Collaborative Land Use Management: The Quieter Revolution in Place-Based Planning (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007). Mason's other book is titled Contested Lands:  Conflict and Compromise in New Jersey's Pine Barrens (Temple University Press, 1992).

Allen Hornblum Has Book Published (9/6/07)

	Instructor Allen Hornblum recently had a book published titled Confessions of a Second Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang. Allen's other book is titled Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison. See interviews with Allen appearing in the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Times.

Professor and Chair Sanjoy Chakravorty recently had three books published. The first (with S.V. Lall) is titled Made in India: The Economic Geography and Political Economy of Industrialization and was published by Oxford University Press (New Delhi, 2007). The second is titled Fragments of Inequality: Social, Spatial, and Evolutionary Analyses of Income Distribution and was published by Routledge (New York, 2006). The third (with Temple University Department of Criminal Justice faculty G. Rengert and J. Ratcliffe) is titled Policing Illegal Drug Markets: Geographic Approaches to Crime Reduction and was published by Criminal Justice Press (Monsey, New York, 2005). To see sample chapters go HERE.

Temple in the World/ The World at Temple! A Global Temple Conference

The Faculty Senate International Programs Committee organized a conference on international research, programs, and creative activities by Temple University members. For more information on the conference, held November 16-17, 2006, visit https://www.temple.edu/studyabroad/globaltemple/conference.html.

21st Century Cities: Research From Temple

The Department of Geography and the Institute for Public Affairs present research on cities by Temple University scholars. For more information on the conference, held November 3, 2006, visit http://www.temple.edu/gus/urbanconference/.

Graduate Student Tamara Manik-Perlman Wins Center for Humanities Award

Tamara Manik-Perlman has been awarded a Graduate Associate position in Temple’s Center for the Humanities during the 2006-2007 year. This competitive award carries a monetary award to advance interdisciplinary work. Tamara received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College, where her senior thesis focused on the cultural practices and processes that govern conversion to Islam in America. She is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Geography.

Her master’s thesis will examine how Indonesian immigrants in South Philadelphia negotiate the complex and often conflicting demands of institutions and interests that attempt to define them. The community she will be studying is composed largely of Christian, ethnic Chinese immigrants whose status as outsiders has made them subject to persecution in Indonesia, most notably during a series of riots that followed the 1998 economic collapse. Although the community is welcomed by the city of Philadelphia, which views its presence as an important element of its urban growth and renewal strategy, the national discourse has become increasingly hostile toward immigrants over the past five years. In addition to crossing national boundaries, these Indonesian immigrants form part of an increasingly significant global Chinese diaspora. This community thus occupies a unique place at the intersection of ethnic, political and religious interests on multiple spatial scales. The goal of her research is to explore how members of this community mobilize particular strategies and tactics to claim rights and engage in civic culture.

In her application, Tamara observed that the conception of space is an important but often neglected question in many of the social sciences and humanities. She believes her interdisciplinary interactions through the Center for the Humanities will enrich her work. The monetary award will permit her to conduct fieldwork in greater depth and to travel to conferences.

GUS Graduate Students Present Thesis Work at the National Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

Two Master’s degree students, Tania Liz Colon and Michael Rovito, presented their Master’s thesis research on panels at the 2006 annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers held in March 2006 in Chicago. Tania made her presentation, titled “Evaluating Digital Divide Solutions: The Geographical Distribution of CTCs in Philadelphia,” on a panel that focused on Community and Participatory GIS in Context. Michael presented his paper, “Determining the role of English Language Proficiency in Shaping the Acculturation Processes and Spatial Mobilities of the Foreign-born ethnic Chinese residing in Philadelphia’ s Chinatown,” on a panel that addressed Issues in Ethnic Geography. Tania and Michael have been working under the supervision of Professor Michele Masucci.

GUS Alumna Wins Achievement Award

GUS alumna Elizabeth Gutierrez (M.A.,1998) has won a prestigious Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Missouri/Kansas City, where Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in Geography. Elizabeth’s undergraduate institution chose her for this award because of her professional achievements, first as planning manager for St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society in Camden, New Jersey, and later as the founder of her own planning firm, Group G, LLC. In announcing this award, Alan Weber, the President of the UMKC Alumni Association, called Elizabeth “a person who is making our world a better place.” To see a profile of Elizabeth, go to the section titled “Meet a Few Alums” in the “Career Information” section of the GUS website.

Temple Joins National University Consortium

In summer 2005 Temple University was voted in as a member of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), the leading academic organization in the field of GIScience. UCGIS typically holds a winter meeting and a summer assembly to address issues of teaching, research, and funding opportunities.

GUS Master’s Program Cited in National Guide

The Master’s degree program in GUS was one of about 75 graduate programs in the U.S. – ranging from law schools to social work to public policy and marine sciences – chosen for inclusion in a college guide titled MAKING A DIFFERENCE: EDUCATION TO SHAPE THE WORLD ANEW. Published in 2005. This guide profiles both graduate and undergraduate programs that lead to work in environmental and social justice fields. Its cover asks students: “Looking for great colleges to help you make a better world? Want an education for social justice, storng on the environment, relevant, innovative, hands-on?” To look at the website for this publication, go to www.sageworks.net.

Undergraduate Research Conference

On April 29, 2005, GUS major Elena Botkin-Levy served as one of two principal organizers (in cooperation with Temple’s Department of Anthropology) for an all-day conference showcasing undergraduate research. Titled, “Building Community/Building Bridges,” the conference had three main themes: urban studies, engaged scholarship, and thoughtful activism. A number of GUS students presented papers and then heard reactions and commentary from urban professionals who attended to hear and respond to the student work. Among the professionals who visited the campus to participate in this conference were senior administrators from the City of Philadelphia’s Homeless Initiatives, the Women’s Community Revitalization Project, the regional office of HUS, and the Bread and Roses Community Fund.

GUS Undergraduate Wins Prize for Research

GUS student Kenny Steif was the winner of the second prize in the Student Paper Competition at the Fall 2004 meeting of the Middle States Division of the Association of American Geographers. Kenny presented a paper on “Creating a Model of Geodemographic Representations of Housing Market Activity.” Kenny subsequently published this paper in the journal, Middle States Geographer, 2004, Vol. 37, pp. 116-121.